Printing machine mechanism



March 18, 1958 w. KOCH PRINTING MACHINE MECHANISM Original Filed March22', 1951 G Sheets-Sheet 1 w. KOCH 2,827,292

PRINTING MACHINE MECHANISM March 18, 1958 Original Filed March 22, 19516 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 18, 1958 w. KocH PRINTING MACHINE MECHANISMOriginal Filed March 22, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 March 18, 1958 w. KOCHPRINTING MACHINE MECHANISM Original Filed March 22, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet4 March 18, 1958 w. KOCH PRINTING MACHINE MECHANISM 6 Sheets-Sheet 5Original Filed March 22, 1951 March 18, 1958 PRINTING MACHINE MECHANISMOriginal Filed March 22, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 .205 307 .L il l j l /l II L 304 W 502 I-HII 3 w. KOCH 2,827,292

United States Patent G l PRINTING MACHNE MECHANISM Werner Koch,Offenbach (Main), Germany, assignor to Faber & SchleicherAkfiengesellschaft, Ofienbach (Main), Germany, a firm Originalapplication March 22, 1951, Serial No. 216,886,

now Patent No. 2,756,995, dated Juiy 31, 1956. Divided and thisapplication June 21, 1956, Serial No. 592,972

Claims priority, application Germany March 30, 1950 11 Claims. (Cl.271-50) The invention relates to printing machines operating inregistration to perform multiple printing operations on sheets or" paperor the like and, more particularly, to transfer devices for transferringsheets between the machines without efiecting the registration.

This application is a division of Patent No. 2,756,995, issued July 31,1956.

There are various printing operations in which the printing of a patternor the like is performed in successive steps on different machines. Thedifferent machines, are, for such operations, prepared to print inregistration so that a unitary composite result is achieved, and it istherefore imperative that the material being printed upon be transferredbetween machines without interference with this registration.

Furthermore, there are many printing operations which require a formator pattern to be printed in exact registration upon sheets or cards. Tomeet this requirement of exact registration, it is essential that eachsheet or card be transferred to the printing device with greatprecision.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide improved meanswhereby material to be printed upon is fed into a printing device incontrolled registration with the format or pattern.

in the co-pending application, Serial No. 216,886, there has beendescribed a chain gripper system comprising a gripper support pivotallymounted upon a movable chain traversing the distance between printingdevices. The function of the grippers mounted on the aforesaid supportwas to grip the material released from one printing device, to beconveyed by the chain with this material to a second printing device,and to deposit the material with a second printing device.

To effect registration, a finger was provided on the gripper support tooperate in conjunction with a locating or guide finger on the impressioncylinder which, in known man er, performed the printing operation.

Further, resilient means were provided to force the two fingers intointimate contact when the transfer was to be effected.

it is to be noted, however, that in the co-pending application, thegripper support was aflixed, although pivota'tly, to the chain of thesystem. Briefly, the invention is concerned with detachably supportingthe gripper support by the chain or the like and the provision of meansto move the gripper support independently of the chain or conveyingmeans whereby an intimate meeting of positioning fingers is obtained.Advantageously, the invention provides for a registered operation whichis independent of the means utilized for conveying material to aprinting'd-evice.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be noted in thefollowing description and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, whichdisclose, by way 'of example, the principle of the invention and thebest mode which has'been contemplated "of 'applying that principle.

2,827,292 Patented Mar. 18, 1958 In the drawing:

Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate, in side view, a preferred embodiment of theinvention in different positions of operation, namely before and duringtransfer.

Fig. 3 is a front view of a portion of a gripper support illustratingparticularly the mode of conveyance thereof Fig. 4 is a top view of theapparatus of Fig. 3.

Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic representations further explanatory ofthe apparatus shown in Figs. 1-4.

Figs. 7 and 8 are diagrammatic representations of a second embodiment ofthe invention.

Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate, in side view, the second embodiment beforeand during transfer, and

Figs. 11 and 12 are respectively front and side views of a grippersupport which can be used in connection with the second embodiment.

In the aforementioned co-pending application there were illustrated twospaced printing machines, each provided with a printing cylinder andgrippers thereon and connected by a chain gripper system adapted forconveying sheets of paper between the printing machine.

'In order that the transfer of each sheet of paper between the variousgrippers occur at the proper time, the invention provided for themovement of the grippers of the chain gripper system independently fromthe chains of that system when the grippers are in a position adjacentthe printing cylinder.

One .form of the invention is shown in detail in Figs. 1-4 anddiagrammatically in Figs. 5 and 6. The grippers have been omitted frommost of the figures for the sake of general clarity but it will be notedthat these grippers are equally spaced from the associated fingers whichare hereafter described. The gripper support or carriage includes twobars 201 and 202 and is provided with rollers 203 and 204 on which itruns between the rails 205 and 206. The gripper carriage is detachablyconnected with the chain 207 by. a roller 208 which engages in a link209 on the gripper carriage. On the side of the carriage, the link 209carries a roller 210. Further, an abutment or guide finger 211 isrigidly fixed on the side of the gripper carriage. A guide finger 213 isalso rigidly fixed on the printing cylinder 212.

As long as the chain runs in a straight line (Fig. 5), the grippercarriage is coupled with the chain 207 by the roller 298 and the link209. When, however, the chain runs up onto the chain drum (not shown)and its path is thereby curved, the link .209 (Fig. 6) drops because itis located on the chord of the two rollers 203 and 264. The connectionbetween the gripper carriage andthe chain 207 is thereby released.

In order to convey the g'rippercarriage during the revolving of thechain 217 about the chain drum, a special device is provided. A lever215 is firmly fixed to the drum shaft 214 and on the hub of this leveris loosely mounted a forked lever 216. The forked lever 216 is connectedwith the lever 215 by a spring 217. The spring 217 pulls a nose 218 ofthe lever 216 against a stop, which is for example a set screw 219 onthe lever 215.

On quitting the straight track between the rails 205 and 206, the roller211i of'the gripper carriage becomes placed in the fork of the lever216, which drives the gripper carriage while the chain 207 is revolvingabout the chain drum.

As soon as the guide finger 213 of the printing cylinder 2'12 bearsagainst the guide finger 211 of the chain carriage and thereby advancesthe chain carriage, the forked lever 216 detaches itself from the setscrew 219 and the spring '217 pulls the gripper carriage with its guidefinger 211 against'the guide finger 213 of the printing cylinder 212.Through theco-operation of these two guide fingers,

the chain gripper system is thus brought during the transfer ofthe-sheet of paper into an exact position relative to the printingcylinder 212. This generally occurs when the grippers are alignedbetween the centers of the crosssections of the drum and cylinder. p

'The'second embodiment of the invention,- as seen in Figs. 7-l2,corresponds in its fundamental method of operation to the firstdescribed construction. It differs chiefly by the means in which thegripper carriage is de- 'tachably connected with its guide chains. 7

In Figs. 7 and 8, during the straight course of the chain 303, therollers 301 and 302 of the gripper carriage rest in cups 304 and 305 ofa long chain link 306. On the gripper carriage there is a third roller'307 which corresponds to the roller 210 described for the firstconstruction (see Fig. 4). The roller 307 lies in the pitch circle ofthe chain 303 and is guided in this pitch circle line around the chaindrum by the forked lever 308.

On the revolving of the gripper carriage about the chain drum, thecarriage is thus suspended in the forked lever 308 by means of theroller 307 and the rollers 301 and 302 are guided by an outer guide rail309. The roller cups 304 and 305, which are connected with the chain bythe long chain link 306 and which on the passage of the chain 303 ontothe chain drum, come into a chordal position thereby become releasedfrom the rollers 301 and 302, so that the gripper'support is detachedfrom the chains.

h The forked lever 308 is disposed, in the same manner *as the forkedlever 216' of the first embodiment of the invention so as to be looselyrotatable with respect to a g-Thespring 312', the nose.313,*and the stop314 correspond to the spring 217, the nose 218 and the stop .219 1 inthe-second form of construction On the gripper carriage, a guidefinger315 is rigidly mounted at one or both of the sides thereof.printing cylinder 316 is fixed a guide finger 317 for cooperationwiththe guide finger 315.

The' method of operation on the' transfer of the sheet of paper is thesame as for the first form of construction so that it is unnecessary torepeat the description of the operation 3 Whatis claimed is: J V f f 1In a printing system provided with an impression cylinder and sheetgrippers thereon, a sheet transfer device comprising a'first fingerrigidly fixed to the impression cylinder, grippers for conveying thesheet to 'the impression cylinder, a gripper support, a second fingerrigidly fixedto said gripper support, and means for resiliently anddetachably supporting said'gripper support to urge said fingers intointimate contact whereby the sheet is transferred between grippers inexact registration with the impression cylinder, said gripper supportcomprising a roller and said means comprising a forked guide member forengaging and resiliently supporting said .roller for urging said secondfinger into intimate contact with said first finger; r

2. In a printing system provided with an impression cylinder, sheetgrippers thereon, a chain adapted to convey a sheet 'to the impressioncylinder, and a rotatable drum adjacent to the impression cylinder fordriving the chain; a sheet transfer device comprising a first finger onsaid impression cylinder, grippers for. gripping the sheet, a grippersupport detachably supported on the chain for moving the sheet inaccordance withthe movement of the chain, a roller on said grippersupport, asecond finger on said gripper support for contacting saidfirst finger, a lever rigidly coupled to the rotatable drum, and aforked guide resiliently coupled to said lever and being caused to moveby said lever in substantial compliancewith the rotation ,of the drum,said forked guide supporting and detaching said gripper support from thechain for moving said grlpper support about the drum, said first andsec- 7 nd fingers contacting with saidgripper support sup- On the 4ported by said forked guide, said forked guide resiliently urging saidfingers into intimate contact.

3. A sheet transfer device as claimed in claim 2 wherein gripper supportcomprises a pivot supporting said roller,

rods rigidly spaced and pivotable about said pivot for supporting saidgrippers, and auxiliary rollers on said rods detachably supported insaid cups.

5. In a sheet transferring device wherein a sheet is transferred betweenfirst grippers mounted on a first cylinder and second gripperstransported by chains around a second cylinder: substantially coplanarbars rigidly .inter-connected and pivotally and detachably connected tothe chains, said bars constitutinga support for the second grippers, afirst abutment on the first cylinder, 7

a second abutment on the support, and resilient means adjacent thechains and-the first cylinder for contacting and supporting said supportto urge said abutments into close contact when the grippers aresubstantially on a line joining the centers of cross-sections of the twocylinders to locate the grippers with relation to each other for thetransferring of the sheet.

6. In a sheet transferring'device wherein a sheet of constituting asupport for the second grippers, connecting means for pivotally anddetachably connecting said support to the chains, an abutment on thefirst cylinder, another abutment on the support for contacting the firstsaid abutment, and a resilient member adjacent the chain and said firstand second cylinders for contacting and supporting said connecting meansso that said abutments are forced into close contact when the grippersare substantially on a line joining the centers of the cross-sections ofthe cylinders to locate the grippers with relation to each other fortransferring of the sheet.

7. A sheet transferring device comprising an impression cylinder,grippers mounted on said impression cylinder, a first abutment mountedon said impression cylinder, a drum, chains around said drum, a rollerpivotally and detachably supported on said chains, outer bars rigidlyafiixed on opposite sides of said roller and constituting a carriagepivotable about said roller, second grippers mountedon the carriage, asecond abutment mounted onv the carriage, and resilient means adjacentsaid chains,

said drum and said cylinder to contact said roller and remove saidcarriage from said chains and urge said abutments into close contactwhen the grippers are substantially on a line joining the centers ofcross-sections 1 of the two cylinders to locate the grippers Withrelation to each other for transferring of the'sheet;

.8. A sheet transferring device comprising an ,impres sion cylinder,grippers mounted on said impressioncylinder, a first abutment on saidimpressioncylinder, a drum, I

chains around said drum, a support, support means for detachablycoupling saidsupport to said chains, second grippers mounted on saidsupport, a second abutment on said support, a lever rigidly coupled tosaid drum, a'forked guide member resiliently coupled to said lever andbeing urged by said lever to rotate with said drum, said forked guidereceiving and detachingsaid support from said said forked guide, a setscrew on said lever and a stop 11. A sheet transferring device asclaimed in claim 8 on said forked guide for contacting said set screwwherewherein Said pp means Comprises P mounted on by said levertransfers motion of said drum to said forked Said chains, Said PP beingdetachably Supported i1! guide said cups.

10. A sheet transferring device as claimed in claim 8 5 g wherein saidsupport means comprises a link mounted Relerences cued m the file of ampatent on said chains, said support comprising a roller detach- UNiTEDSTATES PATENTS ably engaged by said link. 2,508,608 Huck May 23, 1950

